


Prefects

by shimotsuki



Series: Light the Corners of My Mind [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 13:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20694224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimotsuki/pseuds/shimotsuki
Summary: Autumn 1975:  Fifth-year Gryffindor Lily Evans begins to suspect that her fellow prefect is hiding something.





	1. Questions

Sitting in the Gryffindor prefects' compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Lily Evans held her breath every time the door opened and another prefect appeared. Who was the other fifth year? Who was she going to have to work with? Poor little Pettigrew wasn't likely to have been chosen, but it could be any of the others. "Please don't let it be Black," she muttered. "Or Potter, either. I don't think I could take their ridiculous arrogance for more than five minutes without hexing them silly. Please let it be Remus." 

It wasn't until the train started to pull out of King's Cross that she had her answer. Benjy Fenwick, one of the seventh years, had already called the meeting to order when the compartment door slid open one last time and Remus Lupin slipped inside. Greatly relieved, Lily smiled at him, and he gave her a quick grin in return as he settled into the last seat. 

Remus was all right. He was thick as thieves with those insufferable idiots Black and Potter, of course, and sometimes he went along with their stupid pranks and troublemaking. But he was quieter than they were, and took his studies more seriously, and had such a kind way about him that she couldn't help liking him in spite of his questionable taste in friends. 

* * *

Lily's new duties quickly became routine. The most time-consuming part was the evening patrol through the corridors, but the fifth, sixth, and seventh year prefect pairs took it in turns, and the patrols were generally uneventful. At most, they might find a student or two creeping about after curfew. Usually, she and Remus simply walked through the dark, empty passageways and talked. She discovered that his quiet manner concealed a mischievous sense of humour—his dry, deadpan comments kept her in stitches. 

One evening, toward the end of September, Lily was in the common room waiting for Remus. But it was Fabian Prewett, a sixth-year prefect, who came down from the boys' dormitory instead. "Hi there, Evans. McGonagall says Lupin is ill—I'm doing his patrol tonight." 

"He's ill? I hope it isn't anything serious." 

Prewett shook his head. "McGonagall didn't say, but she didn't look very worried. He's probably just got that cold that's been going around." 

Lily nodded, and led the way out through the portrait hole into the moonlit corridor. Remus did seem to be the kind of person who always caught whatever was in the air. He missed lessons more often than anyone in their year. Now that she stopped to think about it, it was a wonder his marks were as good as they were. 

* * *

The next day, Lily kept an eye out for her fellow prefect. Remus didn't appear at breakfast, and sure enough, he was absent from lessons all day. She did see him at dinner, though, sitting down at the other end of the Gryffindor table with Potter, Black, and Pettigrew, who all seemed to be teasing him about something. He was grinning good-naturedly, but Lily thought he looked awfully pale, and really quite exhausted. 

After dinner, Lily was sitting with some of her friends in the crowded common room, working on a Charms essay, when Remus and his gang came up from the Great Hall. They settled down at their favourite table by the window and proceeded to cover it with pieces of parchment. 

"Here you are, Moony," she heard Potter say. "Defence Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic—and you'd better appreciate that one, 'cause I stayed awake through Binns's whole lecture just to make sure I'd have notes for you." 

"I've got your Potions notes," said Black. "Not much happened, though—Slughorn was too busy telling us stories about his important contacts at the Wizarding Wireless Network to remember to teach anything." Lily had to choke back a laugh so the boys wouldn't realize she was eavesdropping. Black was absolutely right about that day's wasted Potions lesson. 

"And I've got Care of Magical Creatures," said Pettigrew excitedly, handing over a mud-spattered sheaf of parchment. "It was a practical on hippogriffs today, Remus—old Kettleburn was brilliant!" 

The boys fell silent then, starting on their homework. Lily stole another glance at Remus to reassure herself that he seemed more or less okay, and then went back to her own work. (All right, maybe she did sneak a look at that Potter prat as well, but that didn't mean she _fancied_ him or anything. That would be _ridiculous_.) 

The common room gradually emptied out as students finished their work, or gave up for the night, and went upstairs to their dormitories. Lily stayed up rather late working on her essay—she liked the topic she had chosen and wanted to finish it before going to bed. When she was finally satisfied, she looked around the room, letting the ink dry. The only other person still there was Remus, asleep in his seat at the table with his head resting on a pile of books. Lily frowned. She didn't like to disturb him, but if he wasn't well, he ought to be getting a decent night's sleep instead of dozing in a hard wooden chair. 

"Remus?" 

He didn't respond, so she went over and gently tapped his shoulder. 

Remus lurched awake at once, sitting straight up and blinking a few times. He grinned at her sheepishly. "Thanks. I guess I drifted off." 

"You look like you should be in bed." Lily thought his face looked a bit grey. "Fabian Prewett said you've been ill. How are you feeling?" 

He shrugged. "Better now, thanks—I'm sure I'll be fine in a day or so." He frowned at the stacks of books and parchment that still covered the table. "I wish I hadn't fallen asleep, though. I've got to keep up with lessons—I can't afford to fall behind, not with O.W.L.s coming up." 

"Oh, piffle," said Lily lightly, "you're always near the top of our year! I'm sure you don't have anything to worry about." 

He didn't look convinced. "I need to qualify for N.E.W.T. level courses in as many subjects as I can, so I can keep my options open when I'm looking for a job. I can't afford to slip up where O.W.L.s are concerned." 

Lily laughed. "You do worry too much! You're good at so many things—the jobs will come looking for you." 

Remus only shook his head, looking unexpectedly bleak. 

Just then Black thumped down the stairs from the boys' dormitory. He was wearing red striped pajamas, and his normally smooth and elegant hair stuck up in all directions—he'd clearly just dragged himself out of bed. "Come on, Moony," he yawned, "it's almost midnight. It's time you got some sleep." 

Remus stood up, sighing. "I was on my way." He began stuffing books into his schoolbag. In his haste, the sleeve of his robes caught on something, revealing a large white bandage underneath. 

"My goodness," said Lily, "what's the matter with your arm?" Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, could heal most cuts instantly. Only magical wounds, or very deep ones, needed bandages. 

Remus went bright red and kept his eyes on his schoolbag. "Nothing," he muttered, "just an accident." 

"But what happened?" She was worried about him now. This was all very odd. 

"I don't think it's really any of your business," said Black sharply. 

Lily swung around, ready with a cutting reply. But what she saw on Black's face wasn't the lazy arrogance she so despised. Instead, he was radiating a kind of fierce protectiveness. In her astonishment, she let the matter drop. 

* * *


	2. Answers

About a month later, Lily had another substitute partner for evening patrol. This time it was Benjy Fenwick. 

"All right, Evans?" he greeted her. "Lupin told me this afternoon he wasn't feeling well, so we traded patrol duty."

_Again? Poor Remus,_ Lily thought, as she and Fenwick left the common room to patrol the corridors in the moonlight—

In the _moonlight._

Just like the last time. 

Passages from her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook echoed in her memory. It couldn't be. Remus? Of all people! That just wasn't possible.

But then she thought about the frequent illnesses. The exhaustion and pallor. The mysterious bandages. Even Remus's worries about finding a job after Hogwarts. 

Suddenly, everything made a little too much sense. 

* * *

Lily went straight to the library after lessons the next day. She combed through the Magical Creatures section without finding what she was looking for. Then, with a sinking feeling, she moved over to Dark Creatures. _Remus is about as much a Dark creature as Dumbledore is_, she fumed. But yes, there they were—a handful of books on lycanthropy. 

She took the books over to a table and sat down to look through them. One book fell open to the sign-out card, where the names of previous borrowers were written, and a particular signature caught her eye: _James Potter._ On an impulse, she checked the cards in the other books. _James Potter. Sirius Black. Peter Pettigrew._ All signed out in October or November of their second year. 

_Well, that pretty much confirms it,_ she thought numbly. And then—_Second year? Potter and Black and Pettigrew were onto this three years ago!_

Of course, the boys did all share a dormitory. It made sense that Remus's roommates would have noticed the pattern sooner than she had. 

Lily signed the books out and went down to the Great Hall for dinner, her thoughts racing. She saw Remus come in a few minutes later. He looked exhausted again, and seemed a little unsteady on his feet. He joined his friends, sitting halfway up the table from Lily's crowd. Black clapped him gently on the shoulder while Potter and Pettigrew piled food onto his plate. She smiled a little, watching them, but then Potter looked over and smirked at her, so she dropped her gaze to frown at her roast beef. Supportive or not, Potter was still a prat. 

* * *

Lily kept an eye on Remus as the next full moon approached. Sure enough, he started looking pale and tired again. He was staying up later and later, too—he was usually still studying when Lily and her friends went up to bed. That worried her. From what she'd read about the werewolf transformation, he needed to be getting _more_ sleep than usual this week, not less. 

Two nights before the full moon, Lily and Remus were among a handful of students still in the common room at half past ten. Potter and Black had finagled permission to stay out flying on the Quidditch pitch after team practice (Lily didn't ask herself why she knew that), and Pettigrew had already dragged himself sleepily upstairs. Most of Lily's friends had gone to bed as well. 

She looked up in surprise when Remus made an uncharacteristically angry noise and threw down his quill in frustration. Then he sighed, rubbed his temples, picked up the quill again, and looked around the room. He brightened a bit when he caught her eye. 

"Lily, could I ask you something about the Potions essay?" 

She went over and sat at the table where he was working. "Of course." 

He sighed again, frowning at his textbook. "I've read this description of the Warming Potion about six times, and I still can't figure out why the horseradish root has to be grated, not sliced, and why the extract of ginger can only be added after the mixture is stirred." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Do you understand this rubbish?" 

"Wow," she said casually, watching his reaction, "that essay isn't due until Friday! You're getting an early start." 

He looked away for just an instant, and when he looked back, his expression was guarded. "Well, you know, Potions isn't my best subject. I'd rather get this done now than have it hanging over my head all week." 

_Or maybe it's because you already know you'll be missing lessons on Friday, and you're trying not to fall behind,_ Lily retorted silently. She was grudgingly impressed at Remus's skill in misdirecting without actually lying. 

She launched into an enthusiastic description of the magical properties of horseradish and ginger, drawing diagrams on a scrap of parchment, until Remus was satisfied with her explanation. While he was thanking her, though, he was briefly incapacitated by an enormous yawn. 

"Remus," she said gently, "you ought to go on up to bed. It can't be good for your health to push yourself so hard." 

His mouth quirked into a wry half-smile. "I'll have plenty of time to get caught up on my sleep after O.W.L.s." 

Lily didn't find that particularly reassuring, as O.W.L.s were still more than six months away. _Should I tell him that I know?_ she wondered. Maybe if she did, she could convince him to take better care of himself. 

"But you need the sleep _this_ week, don't you?" she asked quietly. 

He looked up quickly, his expression closed and wary. "What do you mean?" 

"Come on, Remus," she said, her voice too low to be overheard by anyone else in the room. "I've noticed what a _regular schedule_ your illnesses follow. It'll be Thursday night this time, won't it?" 

He went completely white, eyes wide with shock and dismay. "Lily—I—" His voice was a choked whisper. "Have you told anyone else?" 

"Of course not." She was a little hurt that he would even ask. "It's your secret, not mine." 

"Thanks," he muttered, but he still looked unhappy. He swallowed. "I'll be turning in my badge, then." 

She stared at him. "Why would you do that? Who cares if you have to trade patrols with Prewett or Fenwick every few months?" 

He shook his head glumly, his eyes on the quill in his hand. "You won't want to patrol with me any more, now that you know." 

Lily sighed. "Go on like that, Remus, and you'll really be hurting my feelings." He looked up again, surprised. "I thought we were friends, but now it's sounding like you don't trust me." 

Now he looked confused. "It's not _that_..." 

"Look," said Lily, "you've got somewhere safe to go at full moon, right? You must." 

He nodded. 

"Okay," she said. "That means I won't run into you _then._" 

He shuddered at the thought, but nodded again. 

"So for the other twenty-eight days, what's the problem?" 

Remus looked at her for a moment, searchingly, and then managed a faint smile. "You sound like you actually mean that." 

"Of course I do. You were my friend before I knew about this, and you're still my friend now that I've found out. As far as I'm concerned, it makes absolutely no difference." Lily tilted her head to one side, considering. "Actually, that's not quite true. Here's a difference." She gave him an impish smile. "You can count on me for notes when you have to miss Ancient Runes. I've noticed none of the rest of your crowd is in there." 

Now his familiar wry grin was back. "I'll take you up on that offer for Friday's notes, then." 

"But anyway," Lily resumed, "I think we were talking about how you need to be getting more _sleep._" 

"I appreciate the concern. But the more homework I can get done before Thursday night, the less catching up I'll have to do next week. So I'd better get back to the Warming Potion." His expression was friendly, but his jaw was set. Clearly, he was prepared to be stubborn. Lily didn't know what else she could say to persuade him, so she returned to her own seat and her Transfiguration textbook. 

* * *

Half an hour later, the common room had emptied out except for Lily in her deep armchair in the corner and Remus at his table by the window. The portrait swung open and Potter and Black burst into the room, muddy and dishevelled from Quidditch practice in the rain. They were heading for the dormitory stairs, their incessant banter reduced to a stage whisper in deference to the lateness of the hour, but they skidded to a halt when they noticed Remus. 

"Oi, Moony!" Potter hailed him softly. 

_That ridiculous nickname!_ Lily realized. They were such _subtle_ prats. 

Remus looked up with a tired grin. "How was practice?" 

"Excellent," said Black. "But the hour is much too late for good little prefects to be doing homework. Especially _this_ week." 

"I'll be upstairs in a few minutes," said Remus. "I just want to finish this." 

"Oh, no you don't," Potter returned. "Bed. _Now._" 

"In a minute," Remus insisted, but he was outnumbered. Black began scooping up the books and parchment from the table, while Potter grabbed an elbow and hauled the reluctant prefect to his feet. Apparently stubbornness was no match for brute force. 

"Upstairs with you," Potter ordered. "It's definitely bedtime." 

Black nodded emphatically, his arms full of books. "And what's more, you're _not_ sleeping through breakfast tomorrow like you did today. In fact, you're having _porridge_ for breakfast. I will personally _feed_ porridge into your ugly maw if necessary." 

Remus went a bit pink, but he punched each of the others on the arm and let them herd him toward the stairs. "'Night, Lily," he said over his shoulder. "Thanks for the help with Potions, and—things." 

Potter whipped around. (Black smirked.) "Hi, Evans!" He stood grinning foolishly at her, his friends forgotten for the moment. 

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. She had almost—_almost_—been touched by Potter and Black's obvious concern for Remus. And then Potter had to go and be a prat again. But at least they had succeeded where she had failed, and Remus was going to get some sleep. 

"Weren't you on your way to get _Moony_ up to bed?" she asked pointedly. 

Potter froze. Black's jaw dropped. They both turned to look at Remus, who was smiling a little. He gave a tiny nod and a shrug, and the other two turned back to gape at Lily again. 

"Prefect Evans," said Remus, disappearing up the stairs, "is no fool." 

_—fin—_

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at PhoenixSong in 2007. Thanks to jadzialove for beta-reading.


End file.
